


ghost of a chance

by limeprint



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Ghosts, Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, Swearing, ghost!shirabu, medium!taichi, medium/ghost au, oblivious kyouhaba
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:47:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29010027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limeprint/pseuds/limeprint
Summary: The ghost’s pointed stare almost hurts. “I said, what’s your name.”It takes him a moment to formulate a coherent thought. “Kawanishi Taichi. I’m, huh, a medium.”or; Taichi may be a medium, but he didn't sign up for this.
Relationships: Kawanishi Taichi/Shirabu Kenjirou
Comments: 14
Kudos: 46





	ghost of a chance

**Author's Note:**

> THIS FIC NOW HAS A [PREQUEL](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29027991) BY MY AO3 PLUMII !

Taichi loves his job. 

Okay, well, he wouldn’t exactly call it a _job_ , but it does occasionally get him some money, whenever his flyers catch enough attention for someone to request his services.

The point is, being a medium isn’t always easy — ghosts are flimsy and unpredictable creatures — but he does enjoy helping people find closure for their unresolved otherworldly matters, which is why he would rather not taint his reputation by turning down a willing customer, even if they knock at his door at nine in the evening the night before his Microbiology exam.

“We’re sorry for the late hour,” the guy with razor-sharp blonde hair who introduced himself as Kyoutani says. Or growls. Something in between, but he did apologize, so Taichi won’t take it personally. 

“It’s a rather urgent matter,” adds the other boy, head a puff of silver.

So here he is, a crystal ball reflecting the dancing flames of the five candles Taichi has already arranged in a circle, his clients sitting in front of him at the round wooden table. Taichi’s hands hover the sphere, fingertips trembling with the fierce energy emanating from the glass.

“What’s the name again, Yahaba-san?” Taichi asks.

“Shirabu Kenjirou.”

“Any more details?”

“He’s in his twenties,” Kyoutani clarifies. He’s kinda frowning, though that might just be what his regular face looks like. “Kinda short, a bit of a bitch, real shitty haircut.”

Yahaba snorts bitterly. “Just a bit, Kentarou?”

Kyoutani side-eyes him, but his frown almost smooths over when his eyes fall on him, and there’s no real bite in his voice as he elbows him half-heartedly. “Shut up, Shigeru.”

“Okay,” Taichi clears his voice, because whatever this exchange means, he’s got no time to unpack it. He’s a medium, not a relationship counsellor. “I’ve got it.”

His palms grow warmer as he focuses the spiritual energy into his fingers, a vortex of fumes swirling faster inside the confines of the ball.

“Shirabu Kenjirou,” the words ring clearly into the air. “If you hear me, I offer you the premises of this room as a bridge to the realm of the living.”

To his credit, the guy answers immediately; had Taichi not been used to it, he would’ve probably jumped at the figure materializing right next to him, hands clenched in front of him as if he’s ready to fistfight someone. Taichi just hopes it isn’t him.

The boy is indeed shorter than him, though Taichi is sitting, so he can’t really compare; he’s got short hair, a light brown recognizable even through his semi transparent state, bangs sitting diagonally across his forehead, which — questionable, okay, but maybe it would matter more if they didn’t crown the prettiest face Taichi has ever seen on a ghost.

And Taichi has seen many, many ghosts. 

Pretty ghost boy blinks a couple of times as he takes in his surroundings and finally notices the three people sitting at the table. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” he hisses, an exasperated hand raising to bridge his pretty, pretty nose. “Of course it’s _them_.”

The _them_ in question stare at Taichi expectantly.

“He’s here,” he confirms, voice not weak. Not weak at all. 

“Great,” Yahaba straightens up, palms flat against the table. “Now tell him to fuck off.”

Taichi blinks. Once. Twice. “Huh.”

“Shigeru,” Kyoutani sighs, hand falling on Yahaba’s forearm.

“You can talk to him directly. He can hear you,” Taichi informs them, because, again, he is many things but definitely not a relationship advisor, given that he is, as Tendou would say, painfully and tragically single.

  
“Even better,” Yahaba raises an offending index in the air. “Fuck off, Shirabu!”

Shirabu Kenjirou looks thoroughly unimpressed. He looks at Yahaba, then turns to meet Taichi’s eyes, and with a perfectly level voice he announces.

“I’m going to stab him.”

“Please do not,” Taichi replies dryly. “I do not condone blood on my carpet. Mostly because I can’t afford another. I’m a broke college student.”

Shirabu’s piercing gaze fixes him in place as the ghost seems to take him in. Taichi feels a bit exposed, more than a bit judged, and very much entranced. Was it always this hot in here? Did he overdo it with the candles?

“What’s your name?”

  
He almost misses the question. 

“What.”

The ghost’s pointed stare almost hurts. “I said, what’s your name.”

It takes him a moment to formulate a coherent thought. “Kawanishi Taichi. I’m, huh, a medium.”

Shirabu stares at him for a painful second, then glances at the candles, then at the crystal ball, then at him again with the most deadpan eyes Taichi has ever met. “That much I had guessed.”

Taichi feels at least four times stupider than his average, and also digs it a lot. What can he say? He likes them mean.

“What’s he saying?” Yahaba inquires.

“I’m saying that you’re a little bitch,” Shirabu whips his clients’ way, seemingly reminded of their presence. “Making me come all the way here for no fucking reason.”

“Uhm,” Taichi hesitates. “He isn’t sure why you summoned him.”

“Because the asshole disappeared, why else!” Yahaba bursts, hands flying. “First he haunts our apartment for months, then he throws a fit over cereal on the floor and boom, he disappears without a word,” His fist hits the table. “We didn’t even know he could leave the house!”

“Maybe they would’ve cleaned up the goddamn cereal if they hadn’t been so busy gazing into each other’s loving eyes,” Shirabu accuses, a violent sparkle to his eyes. “I can’t with the unresolved sexual tension anymore!”

Taichi chokes on his spit in his poor attempt at holding back a snort.

“What?” Kyoutani pries, eyes wide. “What’d he say?”

“He says he needed a break from the, huh,” Taichi swallows. “Tense atmosphere?”

Shirabu huffs resolutely. “Also, if Futakuchi doesn’t stop stealing our Wi-Fi I will personally make sure there’s another ghost in the apartment complex.”

“He expresses his annoyance with a certain Futakuchi.”

  
“See, I told you it was Kenji’s fault,” Yahaba jabs Kyoutani in the chest. “It’s always Kenji’s fault. I’m never letting him into the house again.”

“Now, that’s something we can agree on,” the ghost mutters, floating out of his vision. “Is that a Microbiology book?”

Taichi’s neck turns whip fast to where Shirabu is staring at his notes, abandoned on the desk in the corner. “You know shit about Microbiology?”

  
“I was a med student,” the ghost admits reluctantly, raising his chin just slightly. 

There’s a certain pride in it that makes Taichi hold back a smile. He raises an eyebrow. “Are you any good?”

He could swear Shirabu’s eyes glint for a second or two. “What’s it to you?”

“Just the pleasure of summoning a damn smart ghost.”

They’re cut off by a loud gasp from Yahaba. 

“Our medium is flirting with Shirabu!”

  
“I am _not —_ ” 

“So what if he is?" Shirabu interrupts. “Just because you two won’t get it together it doesn’t mean anyone else in our stupid apartment can’t get some.”

“Is he shit-talking?” Yahaba narrows his eyes. “I know he’s shit-talking, I can sense it.”

“Good job, Yahaba, maybe you should be the medium here.”

Taichi tries not to take it to heart.

“Listen,” Kyoutani intervenes with a grunt. He sounds tired. He cannot blame him. “Can you just ask him to come home?”

Shirabu sneers. “Maybe if you beg on your knees.”

“It’s just, he disappeared all of a sudden and we —” Yahaba hesitates, voice growing a tad bit unsteady. 

“Oh no,” Shirabu sighs, thoroughly pained. “Not the heart-felt confession.”

“Well, we… We didn’t even know if he was okay.”

“Please," the ghost whimpers dramatically. "Put me out of my misery."

And because Taichi is a medium and not an exorcist, he just throws a quick look at Shirabu’s venomous glare, then at Yahaba’s growing pout, and takes an impromptu decision that he may or may not regret greatly.

“He says he’ll be back.”

Yahaba’s eyes widen. “Really?”

Shirabu inhales sharply. “No I don’t!”

“Yes he does!” Taichi grins assuredly, ignoring Shirabu’s vocal protest. “Just, give it a few days, maybe. You and your boyfriend don’t need to worry anymore.”

Maybe he is a relationship counsellor after all.

“My —” Yahaba blinks. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Oh really?” Taichi smiles wider, because he isn’t an exorcist but he is an asshole. Even Shirabu stops cursing at him. “Could’ve fooled me.”

“We _aren’t_ —”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a rather important exam tomorrow,” he squirms out of his chair.

“Okay, okay, we’re leaving,” Kyoutani hurries, face red as a brick, and there’s a finality to it that Taichi is more than thankful for. “Sorry for the trouble.”

  
  
  
  


“So,” Taichi walks back into his living room, slipping the well-deserved payment into his wallet. “I kinda helped you out, didn’t I?”

“Totally unwarranted,” Shirabu grumbles, but doesn’t complain about Taichi’s intervention, which he takes as a good sign. A great sign, actually.

Then the ghost throws him a flimsy look from the corner of his eye. “Do you flirt with all the ghosts you summon?”

“Only the ones who can help me with Microbiology,” he coughs out with a nervous smirk. “So, how do ghosts feel about study dates?”

He holds his breath under Shirabu’s cutting stare.

“We aren’t so big on them,” he speaks slowly, calculated. A grin tugs at the corners of his lips. “But we might consider for pretty mediums who don’t know their place.”

Taichi really, really loves his job.

**Author's Note:**

> in conclusion: a relationship should always be 50/50. you're a mean bitchy ghost and im the broke medium who gets to deal with it. aaand HERE GOES NOTHING ! wrote this out of pure spite because kawashira has less than 120 fics and it hurts me deeply. watch me struggle on [twitter](https://twitter.com/kuroy4ku/status/1354217156037251074?s=20) if you'd like to be friends <3 
> 
> and many thanks to my [beta](https://twitter.com/plumli_kl) for indulging everything i write I LOVE YOU PLUM


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